Superintendent Calls Court Decision Partial Win

KSAL StaffMarch 7, 2014

Salina USD 305 Superintendent Dr. Bill Hall says that Friday’s supreme court ruling on school funding is a win for children across the state, but he cautions that it is a “partial win”.

Supreme court justices ordered the Legislature to boost two kinds of aid to school districts by July 1. It returned the case to Shawnee County District Court for more hearings on how much the state must spend overall to provide for all children have an adequate education.

Superintendent Hall tells KSAL News that it is a “partial win in respect to equity”. Hall said that the ruling restores state funding for capital outlay, and funding for local option budgets, and that is a win.

Hall goes on to say, though, that the court did not define what is an adequate education, which has a significant impact on base state aid. Instead, it left that decision up to a Shawnee County court.

The lawsuit was filed in 2010 on behalf of parents and school districts who argued the state had harmed students because spending cuts resulted in lower test scores.

State attorneys maintained that legislators did their best to minimize cuts to education.